She eventually found permethrin-based products in specialty stores catering to gardeners and outdoor sports enthusiasts.

It shouldn't be this difficult, said Larry Dapsis, entomologist with the Cape Cod Cooperative Extension Service.

Effective tick repellents exist, he said. "The biggest problem with this is distribution — finding the product."

Dapsis, who said he convinced several garden centers to stock repellent, says he plans on meeting with the purchasing agents of general merchandise chains to get permethrin products on their shelves.

Diseases carried by deer ticks, including Lyme disease, babesiosis and anaplasmosis, are endemic on the Cape and are spreading across the rest of the state.

Permethrin is a man-made, low-toxicity insecticide that is sprayed on fabric and clothing to repel ticks and other pests.

Dapsis said his own research showed that deer ticks exposed for 60 seconds to permethrin-treated fabric died within nine minutes. "I recommend treating footware, socks and pants at least from the knees down," Dapsis said. Dapsis said that although permethrin is not heavily toxic to mammals, cats are sensitive to the insecticide. Permethrin can be found in products with the brand name Coleman at Agway in Orleans and Ben's at EMS in Hyannis and under the Sawyer name at Powderhorn Outfitters in Hyannis and Goose Hummock in Orleans.

Hunters and other fishermen have known about the tick-repelling benefits of permethrin for years, Powderhorn clerk Greg Coleman said. The store sells cases of the Sawyer spray, he said.

Clothing that is sprayed with permethrin can go through several washings before the insecticide needs to be reapplied, Coleman said.

Dapsis also swears by specialty clothing that is sold pre-treated. Barnstable County officials purchased a pair of Insect Shield pants for him to wear in the field, and ticks fall off so rapidly, "it was like a tick water slide," he said.

While permethrin is meant to be sprayed on clothing, DEET works on bare skin to repel ticks, said Catherine Brown, the veterinarian for the state Department of Public Health.

DEET products are a lot easier to find in general merchandise stores, too, being one of the main ingredients in Off! bug spray, Dapsis said.

But Thomas Mather, professor of public health entomology at the University of Rhode Island, said, "DEET products don't last very long on your skin." DEET seems to make ticks step high over a person's skin as if the chemical is hurting their eight tiny feet, he said.

The ticks either fall off — or scurry to hide under clothing where skin has not been sprayed, Mather said.

Many people would rather spray DEET products on their skin in the summer than follow the traditional anti-tick advice to wear long pants and long sleeves and pull their socks over their pants, Mather said.

But there is a solution for people who don't want to swelter or be sartorially challenged, he said.

A study showed individuals wearing summer-weight shorts treated with permethrin were five times less likely to get a tick bite than those whose clothing wasn't treated, Mather said.

He said the tick tendency to climb upward probably led to their encounter with the repellent.

Brown said it is still important to do a tick check every night and focus on moist areas behind the knees, armpits and groin where ticks like to latch on.